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Getting less than 6 hours of sleep could double – or even triple – your risk of dying from heart disease or cancer, especially if you have chronic diseases, according to latest research.

The stark warning is taken from US research that analysed the sleep of around 1,600 adults.

Participants had their sleep monitored during a single night in a sleep laboratory during the 1990s.

Researchers kept track of the group up to 2017 and found that in general, those who slept less than 6 hours were more likely to have died.

They also found there was an increased risk of early death among people with long-term (chronic) conditions, such as high blood pressure or heart disease, who slept for less than 6 hours each night.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, sets out that a shorter sleep duration should be included as a useful risk factor in predicting long-term outcomes.

Scientists analysed data from 1,654 people aged 20 to 74 from the Penn State Adult Cohort database.

They were categorised into two groups as having stage 2 high blood pressure or Type 2 diabetes and having heart disease or stroke.

(Image: Getty)

Call for sleep policy changes

Participants were studied in the sleep laboratory from 1991 to 1998 for one night, with researchers tracking their cause of death up to the end of 2016.

Researchers found that of the 512 people who died, one third died of heart disease or stroke and one quarter died as a result of cancer.

People who had high blood pressure or diabetes and slept less than six hours had twice the increased risk of dying from heart disease or stroke.

According to the study, those who had heart disease or stroke and got less than six hours sleep had three times the increased risk of dying from cancer.

Lead study author Julio Fernandez-Mendoza, associate professor at Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, said: ‘Our study suggests that achieving normal sleep may be protective for some people with these health conditions and risks.

‘However, further research is needed to examine whether improving and increasing sleep through medical or behavioural therapies can reduce risk of early death.’

(Image: Getty Images)

He added: ‘Short sleep duration should be included as a useful risk factor to predict the long-term outcomes of people with these health conditions and as a target of primary and specialised clinical practices.

‘I’d like to see policy changes so that sleep consultations and sleep studies become a more integral part of our healthcare systems.

‘Better identification of people with specific sleep issues would potentially lead to improved prevention, more complete treatment approaches, better long-term outcomes and less healthcare usage.’

Those with high blood pressure or diabetes who slept less than six hours had twice the increased risk of dying from heart disease or stroke, the study found

According to the research, those with heart disease or stroke getting less sleep had three times the increased risk of dying from cancer

The study suggests the increased risk of early death for people with high blood pressure or diabetes was negligible if they slept longer than six hours.

However, the researchers acknowledge that the results may be affected by the first-night effect – where participants sleep significantly worse the first night in a lab compared to other consecutive nights, which is the type of sleep study routinely used in clinical practices.